News

vOur sincere gratitude to bookcloseouts.ca for their book
donation.The thoughtful selection
includes NY Times bestsellers for children by Jamie Lee Curtis, books on
animals our children so love, and level readers from popular series such as
the Berenstain Bears’ and Fancy Nancy’s.

vBecause of bookcloseouts.ca’s generous
support, every child/student in our Professor-Dog and Doctor-Dog programs would
receive a new hardcover book and a certificate of excellence at the end the
academic year!

vAfter a successful 4-month pilot project, Dr. Stella and
Amy, Dr. Vee and Ana, Dr. Pip and Sandi, Dr. Flour and Gary, Dr. April and
Irene, and Julianna formally expanded the weekly literacy program to Sundays
at the Toronto
Public Library.We
are amazed at the progress the children have achieved!

vWatch Dr. Suede (therapy dog) read with student Hailley
Young at St. Anthony
Catholic Elementary School in Toronto.Elizabeth D’Angelo-Scott explained how Dr.
Suede had helped her students significantly improve their reading scores and
self-concepts.Hailley Young also
shared why she liked to read with Dr. Suede.

vLauren La Rose from
CP followed Dr. Suede (therapy dog) and Grace’s reading session with student
Hailley Young at St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School in Toronto.Teacher Elizabeth D’Angelo-Scott explained how Dr.
Suede had helped her students improve reading scores and demeanor.Irene discussed the importance of support
from teachers and volunteers.

vOur
director Irene shared preparation/training tips and pet-therapy/visiting
experiences of our volunteers with the readers of the magazine.

vCorrection
notice: At the time the photo was taken, the lady in the photo on the second
page of the article was a client we visited but she was not a resident at a
long-term care facility.Tags to all
photos were added by the magazine staff unknown to us before the
publication.We apologize for the
mistake and any misunderstanding caused.

vOur Doctor Dogs and their assistants are
participating in a research study conducted by the Ontario Veterinary College
and the University of Guelph. The study aims to identify the risk of
infection in pet-therapy/visiting activities.

ØDr. Rachel
Fleissner: Medical Director of Prairie St. Johns, Fargo, ND, discussed how
she used therapy dogs in her work to help her clients, including children
with autism. She also emphasized the link between animal abuse and
family violence.

ØDr. Sandra
Lefebvre, a research veterinarian at the University of Guelph and Ontario
Veterinary College, presented the data of her research and discussed the
health risk of dog therapy at healthcare facilities.

ØAbout 20
psychiatrists from all over the world (including US, Britain, Netherlands,
and Norway, etc.) shared their experience and aspirations for using animals
in their work.

ØOur Dr.
Chestnut was the “demo” dog. Without prompting, he gave each attendee a
very warm welcome and showed off the magic of a true therapy dog!
Many thanks, Dr. Chestnut!

vMany more
attendees (including scientists from US, Japan, and Korea) at the event met
our Dr. Chestnut who was a magnet for attention the minute he stepped into
Sheraton Center. They talked to his assistant Irene about the possibility
about Doctor Dogs visits in their own city.

vDr. Nellie and her assistants Keith &
Irene visited the French participants at an adult day care in downtown
Toronto. The staff and the participants at the
center gave first-hand testimonies on the benefits of our therapy-dog
visits.

vOur Dr. Lucy’s assistant Diane shared her
enjoyment at our evaluation and her volunteer experience with the readers of
The Globe and Mail in her article titled "An
Earnest, Dogged, Job Applicant"under
Facts and Arguments.

vNote: Passing the CGN test alone does not
qualify a dog as a Doctor Dog with Caring Canine. An additional
evaluation and further training required.

vOur volunteers Diane and Irene came face to
face with other dog-owners at Woofstock 2005 in our efforts to encourage more
dog-lovers to share the love of their dogs with the vulnerable in our
communities.

vDr. Bear, our volunteers Keith, with his
therapy dog Dr. Nellie, and Irene talked about their pet-therapy experience
and explained how Caring Canine was started. Once again, they called
for more dog owners to come forward to volunteer!

vWatch our volunteers live on Animal
House Calls. Witness the joy on the faces of the elders at a long-term
care home in East York when Dr. Chestnut, Dr. Lucy, and their assistants
Diane & Lisa visited! Host Anne Rohmer and our director Irene
invited dog owners to come forward and volunteer! Please scratch here for photos...

vDr. Chestnut and his assistants Lisa &
Will visited the residents at a long-term care home in Scarborough. Laura
DiBatistta from Pulse24 News
and our director Irene called for more volunteers to share the love of their
dogs.